Functional Design in Clojure

Latest Episodes:

Ep 089: Branching Out Nov 20, 2020

Show notes

Each week, we discuss a different topic about Clojure and functional programming.

If you have a question or topic you'd like us to discuss, tweet @clojuredesign, send an email to feedback@clojuredesign.club, or join the #clojuredesign-podcast channel on the Clojurians Slack.

This week, the topic is: "if, when, case, condp, and cond." We wander through the myriad ways of making decisions and listing choices in Clojure.

Selected quotes:

"Clojure is all about the practical."
"Never be afraid of the in-line if."
"We need to conserve parentheses, for future generations of lispers."
"Build up the language to the vocabulary of your domain, and you won't have to think about the language any more, you'll just be thinking about your problem."
"Where are you in programming, without branching?"

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Ep 088: Do Dorun Run! Nov 13, 2020

Show notes

Each week, we discuss a different topic about Clojure and functional programming.

If you have a question or topic you'd like us to discuss, tweet @clojuredesign, send an email to feedback@clojuredesign.club, or join the #clojuredesign-podcast channel on the Clojurians Slack.

This week, the topic is: "doall, dorun, doseq, and run!." We eagerly discuss the times we need to interact with the messy world from our nice clean language.

Selected quotes:

"We're going to talk about not being lazy, for once."
"Laziness is a virtue."
"Clojure loves immutability. The world loves mutability."

Links:

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Ep 087: Polymorphic Metal Oct 23, 2020

Show notes

Each week, we discuss a different topic about Clojure and functional programming.

If you have a question or topic you'd like us to discuss, tweet @clojuredesign, send an email to feedback@clojuredesign.club, or join the #clojuredesign-podcast channel on the Clojurians Slack.

This week, the topic is: "multimethods." We discuss polymorphism and how we tackle dynamic data with families of functions.

Selected quotes:

"You don't have to reach for polymorphism as quickly in Clojure."
"Polymorphism at its simplest."
"A natural fit for processing a list of heterogeneous things."
"Our natural tool of computation: the function."

Links:

Ep 086: Let Tricks Oct 20, 2020

Show notes

Each week, we discuss a different topic about Clojure and functional programming.

If you have a question or topic you'd like us to discuss, tweet @clojuredesign, send an email to feedback@clojuredesign.club, or join the #clojuredesign-podcast channel on the Clojurians Slack.

This week, the topic is: "let." Let us share some tricks to reduce nesting and make your code easier to understand.

Selected quotes:

"It's really about avoiding nesting."
"Functions grow as a function of their nesting."
"I don't want to start doing math on a nil!"
"It's a clue that the value might not be there."
"It's like your prep space in the kitchen."

Links:

Ep 085: For for the When Sep 25, 2020

Show notes

Each week, we discuss a different topic about Clojure and functional programming.

If you have a question or topic you'd like us to discuss, tweet @clojuredesign, send an email to feedback@clojuredesign.club, or join the #clojuredesign-podcast channel on the Clojurians Slack.

This week, the topic is: "for." We talk about this data generating macro, while we remember situations when it was useful.

Selected quotes:

"You are generating a new sequence in a declarative way."
"In typical Clojure fashion, I looked up the definition."
"Forgive us for our puns."
"Where the while is in the for. Another statement that doesn't make sense to the outside listener."

Links:

Ep 084: All Sorts Sep 18, 2020

Show notes

Each week, we discuss a different topic about Clojure and functional programming.

If you have a question or topic you'd like us to discuss, tweet @clojuredesign, send an email to feedback@clojuredesign.club, or join the #clojuredesign-podcast channel on the Clojurians Slack.

This week, the topic is: "sort and sort-by." We lay out a list of ways to sort your data, ordered by their relative power.

Selected quotes:

"Clojure core is a shared vocabulary that we all can use."
"I can't sort things in my mind, I'll just have the computer do it for me."
"There only needs to be one sort-by function, because of the flexibility of passing in the classifying function."
"We don't need any framework-y mumbo-jumbo."
"We do interop, but only at the edges."

Links:

sort
sort-by

Ep 083: Sift Sans Sort Sep 04, 2020

Show notes

Each week, we discuss a different topic about Clojure and functional programming.

If you have a question or topic you'd like us to discuss, tweet @clojuredesign, send an email to feedback@clojuredesign.club, or join the #clojuredesign-podcast channel on the Clojurians Slack.

This week, the topic is: "partition-by and group-by." We get a handle on big buckets of data by sifting elements into smaller buckets.

Selected quotes:

"If you know the core toolbox better, you will use it more effectively."

"Is there a group-by hiding in this code that uses filter?"
"Be eager to be lazy."

Links:

Ep 082: Filter and Friends Aug 07, 2020

Show notes

Each week, we discuss a different topic about Clojure and functional programming.

If you have a question or topic you'd like us to discuss, tweet @clojuredesign, send an email to feedback@clojuredesign.club, or join the #clojuredesign-podcast channel on the Clojurians Slack.

This week, the topic is: "filter, filterv, remove, keep, and keep-indexed." We talk about sifting data and marvel at the simple function that can turn two steps into one.

Selected quotes:

"It's not just linguistic, it helps it make more sense."
"We should be more positive about our intent."
"Clojure's sense of falsey is thankfully limited to nil and false."
"Nil is a positive statement that it didn't work out."
"Keep is great for those times where you need data for both the transform and the filter."
"It's only a complement away!"
"Reaching for optimization too early leads to more complexity."

Links:

Ep 081: List No More Jul 31, 2020

Show notes

Each week, we discuss a different topic about Clojure and functional programming.

If you have a question or topic you'd like us to discuss, tweet @clojuredesign, send an email to feedback@clojuredesign.club, or join the #clojuredesign-podcast channel on the Clojurians Slack.

This week, the topic is: "first, second, key, and val." We talk about positive nothing and the proliferation of tuples.

Selected quotes:

"Let our ramblings help your code ramblings."
"First is the key."
"Nil, the positive statement of nothing."
"Key and val are a hint that the bit of data you're working on is really a small part of a map."

Links:

Ep 080: Apply as Needed Jul 24, 2020

Show notes

Each week, we discuss a different topic about Clojure and functional programming.

If you have a question or topic you'd like us to discuss, tweet @clojuredesign, send an email to feedback@clojuredesign.club, or join the #clojuredesign-podcast channel on the Clojurians Slack.

This week, the topic is: "apply." We take time to unroll some examples of this function.

Selected quotes: